Lady Indica:Everywhere in the world actually. Yeah, I know. Violence has sharply fallen too. Things actually keep getting better and better for most of humanity.

There's a very strong correlation with the rise and fall of violent crime on a time-delayed basis with the introduction and later banning of lead in gasoline in societies worldwide. Lead exposure in children damages development of the pre-frontal cortex, which is important for making rational decisions in emotional situations. For those with the right brain chemistry, that damage basically turns off their "morality" switch and leads to ape-sh*t crazy behavior in adolescence and young adulthood.

This match-up has been studied among countries that had different times for introduction and removal of leaded gas from society, and it has a very strong correlation.

I'm all for locking up violent offenders who are a danger to society. However, I do not like the idea of the prisoners having to fork over $$ to pay for the privilege of being locked up. IMO, this is like paying a court fee to be found not-guilty for a B.S. ticket. I realize the analogy is not quite on the same level, but it the best I could come up with at this moment.If society wants these laws and prisons, let society pay for them through taxes.

Bumblefark:dsmith42:Study from 2000 cited in article (pdf file) showing 90% correlation for 23 year lag in lead exposure in the USAhttp://www.ricknevin.com/uploads/Nevin_2000_Env_Res_Author_Manuscrip t. pdf2007 study by same author looking at whole worldhttp://pic.plover.com/Nevin/Nevin2007.pdf

Eh...might be a reason those studies aren't published in a criminology journal.

Thanks to dsmith42 for the researcher's name; I subsequently found additional research posted in the NBER digest, which can hardly be claimed is not a respected, scholarly organization: http://www.nber.org/digest/may08/w13097.html

My personal belief is that there shouldn't be special pay as you go prisons. Upon conviction of a crime and sentencing that results in a prison sentence, there is no white collar crime resort style prison, there is no special privilege for being rich and/or famous. Going to prison should be handled the way military basic training is handled. Who you were prior to basic training doesn't matter. Everyone gets their head shaved, is given a uniform, gets the same bed, wall locker and no consideration is given for who you think you are. Same should be for prison. Doesn't matter if you were a poor nobody or a rich celebrity. Go to prison and everyone gets treated the same. Same uniform, same cell, same bed and zero consideration for who you were outside of prison.

KimNorth:Hermione_Granger: Lucky LaRue: Yes, you read that right: Rich people have their own jails.

And they always have.

And Black people have always had their own "down low clubs." Don't see folks call out on that.

But since you mention it, and now that I've given it some thought, people DO call out folks on that. Oprah did a whole couple of shows on it. You don't get any more outed than being on Oprah.

She even did a show on the author of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" and it turned out the guy she got her groove back with was actually gay and just using her to get to America.

Oprah put it out there, so case closed.

My original point was that when you read stories about jails, especially before modern times, notorious or well-to-do prisoners always got preferential treatment. And we've always known about the "country club" federal prisons and such.

I know I post a lot about racism, but I really wasn't talking about race in this instance. Just how the rich always seem to get over on the poor, even when they break the law.

KimNorth:I think this is a good idea, if poor the family could all chip in and come up with the money for little Frankie's stay so he does not get raped or beat while in there. We all know not everyone is jail ready and is a major target. The Judge get's to decide who gets to go, so don't think he would be sending a rapist or murder there.

People aren't supposed to be raped or beaten up in jail in the first place.

Theaetetus:KimNorth: I think this is a good idea, if poor the family could all chip in and come up with the money for little Frankie's stay so he does not get raped or beat while in there.

Excellent... That way, it's not just little Frankie that we're punishing, but Frankie's entire family! We'll drive them all into the depths of poverty, at which point they have to steal to survive, and then we'll imprison them too! We'll get government payouts for a half dozen prisoners instead of just one! See, this is why brilliant people like you are in charge of our for-profit prison system.

I dunno, I see it as extended family also chips in, they all sign a card "This covers your punk-ass for every birthday and Christmas from now on"

KimNorth:I think this is a good idea, if poor the family could all chip in and come up with the money for little Frankie's stay so he does not get raped or beat while in there.

Excellent... That way, it's not just little Frankie that we're punishing, but Frankie's entire family! We'll drive them all into the depths of poverty, at which point they have to steal to survive, and then we'll imprison them too! We'll get government payouts for a half dozen prisoners instead of just one! See, this is why brilliant people like you are in charge of our for-profit prison system.

Lucky LaRue:Yes, you read that right: Rich people have their own jails.

It's nice to return to the good old days of the 18th century, when everyone was charged to be in jail, which meant the poor were forced to remain there as they racked up debts they couldn't pay, while the rich lined the pockets of the sheriff or jailor, paying to have their own furnishing and food brought in from home.

serial_crusher:"Make no mistake about it, this is a standard jail, with standard issued mattresses, shared showers with minimal privacy..."

Is the rape shower really something they should advertise like that? Like it's an intended part of the criminals' rehabilitation?I mean, sure, prison rape is one of the biggest reasons I would fear going there, but I'm sure the 8th amendment would prohibit it from being officially mandated like that.

Rehabilitation? Then how can we punish them again once they're out? A never-ending cycle of crime and punishment is what these "people" deserve.